Parallel Universes in Our Living Room
by pyrrhicvictoly
Summary: In another world, an exiled German princess moves to Boston where her sons make friends with the Japanese family next door.


**_If a universe can be imagined, it exists._**  
><strong>~ M.R. Frank<strong>

* * *

><p>When the Shibuya family moved in next door, Cecilie von Spitzweg was ecstatic. It was hard being a princess in exile, and even harder still to be a single mother in an unfamiliar land. Her good friend Stefan had kindly allowed her to stay at his summer home in Boston, but it was not enough.<p>

It wasn't so much the transition from the palatial lifestyle that bothered her. The suburbs were quieter than what she was used to, but it struck her as a nice place to raise children. She had to learn to do without maids, but Gwendal helped with the cooking, and Conrad helped change Wolfram's diapers. That wasn't so bad at all. It was just... Her sons were all she had now, and it was lonely.

But then the doorbell rang.

Mrs. Shibuya came up the front steps, heavily pregnant and holding a giant pot of curry.

"Hello," she said in stilted English. "You... like curry?"

That was when Princess Cecilie finally allowed herself to cry.

-oOo-

Gwendal was a polite but sullen teenager. He took his studies very seriously, and did not like being disturbed. Of course he was also fond of helping Jennifer knit things for baby Wolfram, but he would never admit it.

Wolfram, who was barely two months old, was like all chidren his age. That is, he was incapable of doing much other than sleeping and crying. Wolfram was a rather fussy child too, and he hated being held by any males other than his brothers, and would cry and scream until he got his way whether that was being held by a certain person or getting his stuffed bear. Or was it supposed to be a raccoon? Gwendal hadn't said.

But Wolfram was an adorable child nonetheless, and Jennifer thought she would like her baby to be as beautiful as that. Equally adorable was the middle child, Conrad, who acted as if he was all grown up just because he was to start kindergarten in the fall. Conrad loved taking care of his little brother; he was so gentle, rocking Wolfram to sleep. Jennifer thought it was a miracle that there could be such a child. And when he smiled, she felt her heart melting. Conrad would certainly grow up to be a handsome devil; a real heartbreaker, that one. The precocious sweet-talker had even started calling her "beautiful"!

It was Conrad who called for a taxi when she went into labor. Gwendal was off studying at the library, and Cheri was out in the garden with Wolfram, tending to her flowers. Conrad had come over to play with Shori, but, the two boys not having much in common, Jennifer's eldest child had wandered off with his nose in a book, leaving Conrad to help "Mrs. Shibuya, who is very beautiful," in the kitchen.

It was Conrad who got her to the taxi, and so it was Conrad who told her that a child born in July would surely be strong. July, in German, was _Juli_. Yuuri. It had a nice ring to it.

"Hello, little Yuuri," she said to her newborn child. "There are wonderful things in store for you. The world is _amazing_, Yuu-chan. And you, little one, are loved."

It was pure happiness. Coming home, wrapped up in her husband's embrace, Shori tugging on her skirts to see his baby brother one more time... Then Cheri had come over with her younger sons, and Jennifer had said, "Look here, Yuu-chan, this is your Nazukeoya."

Yuuri yawned and blew a spit bubble.

Conrad smiled, completely enthralled, and Jennifer could just tell they were going to be the best of friends.

-oOo-

Yuuri only had vague memories of his early childhood. Sometimes he wondered if he could claim dual citizenship since he had been born on American soil. Sometimes he wondered if the English he'd picked up as a baby was the reason English was currently his best subject.

None of this impacted his daily life in any way. After all, they'd moved back when he was six years old. All he could recall when he thought back to those days was... well, was his mother stuffing him into dresses. And his father taking him to baseball games. And holding Shori's hand as they walked around the park by their old house.

There were other shadowy figures that tagged along sometimes. Other kids, perhaps childhood friends? A little girl who pulled his pigtails and always made him cry. A gentle older boy who sat next to him at the stadium, and held his hand when he got separated from Shori. Who were they?

Who was he, that gentle onii-chan?

-oOo-

"I thought we'd put him up in the guest room. Or maybe he could room with you! Wouldn't that be great, Sho-chan?"

"Absolutely not," Shori said. "I'm sure he already has a place in the dorms. There's no need for him to stay here."

"What's going on?" Yuuri asked as he came down to breakfast. "Who's staying over?"

"No one."

"Conrad!"

Meanwhile, Shoma slid further behind his newspaper.

Yuuri eyed his mother and Shori suspiciously. He slowly brought a scoop of rice to his lips and chewed around the mouthful as he contemplated the situation. Something was definitely going on if Shori, the lazy college student, was up before noon.

"Who's Conrad?"

"The person who's not staying with us," Shori said.

"Listen, Yuu-chan." Jennifer's eyes lit up with unholy glee. "Once upon a time, Mama was friends with a fairy princess, and her name was Cheri and she had three sons who were princes and they sparkled like 'twinkle twinkle!' One day-"

"Timeskip!" Yuuri held up his hands to ward off the evils of his mother's fairy tales. "To the present, please."

"Oh, well, Cheri sent me a letter the other day saying that her second son - that's Conrad - is coming to study in Japan!"

"A baseball scholarship is _not_ studying," Shori mumbled into his rice.

"Shush, Sho-chan."

"Did someone say baseball?"

"Shush, Yuu-chan. As Mama was saying, Conrad just so happens to be transferring to the same college as Sho-chan, so I thought we'd invite him to stay with us. It's been so long since I've seen him and now he's all grown up and Cheri says he still remembers you two and he'd love to meet up again. It's such a shame that none of our sons have wings, and it's a shame about the baseball, too. I was hoping Conrad would keep the prince-type sparkling as he grew up, but it looks like he traded that in for the sweaty jock-type sparkling, same as you, Yuu-chan..."

Jennifer paused, her thoughts flown off on unknown tangents. But then she gasped as it hit her and she plowed on with renewed vigor. "Yuu-chan! You used to be so cute in those dresses, what happened to you? I was so hoping you'd be a girl. It was just so adorable with you as a little princess and the princes coming to your rescue..."

"Ah." Something clicked in Yuuri's mind. "Conrad's that gentle onii-chan I used to play with."

At this, Shori's face darkened and his fists clenched. "Yuu-chan! Why don't you call _me_ onii-chan anymore?"

"Because you're annoying, Shori." He turned to their mother and said, "I wouldn't have a problem with him staying."

"Yay!"

Shori seethed in his seat. His teeth ground painfully as he fought to keep from screaming at the injustice of that brother-stealer coming in and stealing his brother. But he didn't scream because he was the very face of maturity and he did _not_ have a brother-complex. He merely said, "Fine. Do whatever," and got up to leave.

Yuuri again turned back to his mother, his fingers idly rubbing along his chopsticks as he tried to find the right way to phrase what was on his mind.

"Um... So, mom..."

"Call me Mama, Yuu-chan."

"Mom. You said your friend had three sons?"

"Yup!"

"Then that girl, you know, the one who used to beat me up? That girl... wasn't a girl, was she?"

"Oh, you mean Wolfram? Of course Wolf is a boy."

"His name is Wolfram and you put him in a dress? That's a crime! You can't put someone with that manly of a name into a dress. That's like... It's like putting someone named Bowser or Rambo into a dress! Sylvester Stallone doesn't wear dresses!"

"Well, we stopped putting him in dresses later on when it was clear that Yuu-chan was the better princess. Wolfy-chan was a strong little prince who beat up a lot of playground bullies to save you."

"The way I remember it, he was the only playground bully around. Those other guys weren't bullies - they were my friends. And then he beat me up, too."

"Only because he liked you. He used to stare at you all the time when you weren't looking, and he would have the cutest little blush on his face... He once asked me for permission to marry you."

"Oh god, mom... This is so messed up. You've destroyed my childhood."

"He thought you were a girl."

Yuuri buried his head in his hands and groaned.

From behind his paper, Shoma cleared his throat. "Red Sox won 3-1," he said simply.

"Baseball?" Yuuri instantly perked up. He looked at his mother, who smiled with an all-knowing look in her eyes.

"Yes, Yuu-chan, Conrad plays baseball." (Honestly, her second son was so simple-minded.)

"Position?"

"Pitcher."

Yuuri's grin grew to cheek-splitting proportions.

And hadn't she called it? Jennifer just _knew_ their two second sons were going to be the best of friends.


End file.
